Pacific Media Watch

1 July 2011

FIJI: Police shut down FWRM birthday planning retreat

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Fiji Women's Right Movement executive director Virisila Buadromo ... grilled by police. Photo: PMC
PMW ID
7516

SUVA (Fiji Women's Rights Movement/Pacific Media Watch): Police closed down the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement (FWRM) retreat and planning meeting at the Pearl resort in Pacific harbor today.

About 9.30am, a police officer known as Tomu, from the Central Investigation Department, asked the hotel event coordinator whether FWRM had a permit. The information was relayed to the FWRM executive director, Virisila Buadromo, who informed him that the event was an internal FWRM planning meeting.

Twenty representatives of the FWRM staff, management board and partners were spending three days reflecting on their achievements over 25 years and planning for the proposed constitutional development and 2014 general elections.

Despite assurances from Buadromo that the gathering was part of FWRM’s annual internal FWRM planning and that they did not need a permit, the police insisted that she return with him to the Pacific Harbor station so that her statement could be taken.

He said that they had contravened provisions of the Public Emergency Regulations (PER).  When Buadromo agreed to accompany him with a lawyer, he insisted that a lawyer’s presence would not be needed. 

But Buadromo insisted that this was what she was going to do and that it was within her rights as a citizen.

At the police station, Buadromo accompanied by FWRM lawyer Roshika Deo, were told to wait while “he consulted his superiors".

During that time, Buadromo called several women human rights defenders to inform them of what was happening as well as a human rights lawyer. She was advised by the lawyer to request that her statement be given in Suva in his presence.

However, this request was a denied by the police. After a half an hour of phone calls between the police officer and someone at the Suva CID headquarters, Buadromo and Deo were informed that charges would not be pressed, the meeting had to be dispersed and that this should be viewed as a “warning".

Buadromo and Deo returned to the Pearl resort with the police officer who came to confirm that the planning was shut down.

The Pacific Disability Forum was also having a strategic planning at the same venue at the same time. Their event was not questioned, investigated and interfered with by the police.


 

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